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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  13. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. jam — to spread on bread
  5. cap — a hat
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. rash — a series
  9. spring — a coil
  10. shower — rain
  11. dip — to sink
  12. jam — a tight spot
  13. jam — in traffic
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. field — for sport
  16. cap — of ice
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. shower — to wash
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. spring — of water
  21. cap — a lid
  22. field — a subject
  23. rash — hasty
  24. spring — the season

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com